IN THE end parking at Porada was approved with a whisper rather than a gale, despite all the bluster in its past.

Bury Council’s planning control committee approved the item swiftly, with no speakers present for or against the application.

The two year battle between the council and restaurant bosses about the ownership of land next to Porada, came to a compromise in November last year.

The owners of Porada, in Bury New Road, believed they had purchased the freehold of the patch of grass next to their Italian restaurant in 2011.

However, when they decided to turn the lawn into a carpark for their restaurant Bury Council came forward claiming it had a 999-year leasehold on the land.

Hafizar Haris, Porada owner, maintained his solicitors had checked with the Land Registry at the time of purchase and found no such charge on the land.

Mr Haris believed he owned the freehold.

At the time he said: “We have legal documents stating my family owns the freehold of the land and this is where the confusion came from.

“The council have shown me documents from 1973 stating they have a lease on the land but it turned out this was never registered.”

Mr Haris and Bury Council eventually compromised with Mr Haris turning 40 per cent of the land back to its former state and agreeing to apply for retrospective planning permission for the rest of plot.

The approved application includes provision for a box hedge to be planted to “screen the car park and would be similar to the planting, which was removed when the car park was created”.

The meeting on Tuesday, chaired by Councillor Jane Black approved the application subject to a number of conditions.

These conditions include aspects such as landscaping, drainage, highways, parking and maintenance.